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Victoria has recorded 451 new coronavirus cases

The Australian state Victoria has recorded 451 new cases, a source has said, as the Federal Treasurer reveals nearly half the state’s private-sector workers will be on JobKeeper this lockdown.

These figures will be confirmed later in the session...

More to come...

Market implications

Meanwhile, AUD/USD bounced off 0.7174 in London.

The pair is correlated to the performance of equities regardless to the coronavirus headwinds and how the Australian Treasurer Frydenberg said the JobKeeper program would be expanded to help deal with the Victorian lockdown, at a cost to the budget of A$15.6bn.  

It could be argued that stimulus is a positive factor for the currency in contrast to the deadlock in the US and waning outlook for US economic growth. 

Today's forecasts in the August Statement on Monetary Policy from the Reserve bank of Australia will be critical.

In Tuesday’s statement, Governor Lowe revealed that the forecast of -6%yr contraction by end 2020 has not changed, though they trimmed 2021 growth slightly, to +5%, analysts at Westpac noted.

Their assessment of the risks ahead will also be of interest and any commentary on the A$ bounce.

Assistant Governor Economic Luci Ellis will then speak via an ABE webinar.

Author

Ross J Burland

Ross J Burland, born in England, UK, is a sportsman at heart. He played Rugby and Judo for his county, Kent and the South East of England Rugby team.

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